


Claws

by Foxtrotbeastbot



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Gen, Mentions of Blood, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 09:17:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6950275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxtrotbeastbot/pseuds/Foxtrotbeastbot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity Brush is a fox without claws. This is her story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Claws

Claws

Grace Kiboko smiled at her nieces and nephews kindly, bouncing little Will in her lap while watching Danny and Ellie playwrestle gently in the living room. It was Sunday. The Brush Family Bakery was closed, and Gracie’s Grooming had shut for the day so the two sisters could meet and catch up.

Felicity was fixing a pot of tea, chattering about the bakery and her children’s latest accomplishments, but Grace wasn’t really paying attention. She was looking at her little sister’s paws. Where long, shiny claws should have been, there were only tiny dull stumps. She should have been able to pluck up anything with well groomed, manicured claws. Instead she was forced to use her pads, often losing her grip. Grace could never look at Felicity’s paws without shame kicking her square in her oversized gut....she would never forgive herself for doing what she did so long ago....

** *20 years ago* **

The door slammed and the sound of sobbing interrupted Grace’s homework. The Hippo looked up instantly, knowing what that sound meant.

“Feli? Is that you?” she called out from her place at the kitchen table. She was about to stand when her younger sister came into view, sobbing brokenly and clutching her torn school uniform.

“S-sorry Gracie...” she coughed. “I d-didn’t mean to distr-”

“Did Hannah Trunkaby and her gang beat you up again?” Grace was out of her chair, homework forgotten as she got a washcloth and dampened it with warm water. “They’ve gotten worse since I left school. Why can’t they just lay off you? Hold still.” She tried to wipe the tears and dirt from the fox’s fur, but Felicity pulled away, shaking her head.

“No! Stay away from me Gracie!”

“Felicity, what is the matter with you? What did those girls do?” Now Grace was worried. Felicity had never tried to push her away before, even now that she was a teenager. Felicity shook her head more violently, hugging herself and digging her claws into her arms.

“They didn’t do anything! I did!”

“What are you talking about?”

Felicity fell to her knees, rocking back and forth and sobbing.

“I scratched Hannah!” she choked. “She was trying to pin me to the wall again and I got scared and...And I scratched her across her trunk!” the tears started up again, flowing down her cheeks while she gasped for breath between sobs.

“I’m just like the teachers said! A filthy savage! Too stupid to know when to suppress my instinct! I never should have been allowed in that school! I’m just a stupid, violent, monstrous-”

“Shut up!” Grace grabbed her little sister by the shoulders and gave her a tiny shake. It was terrifying to see her breaking down like this. But Grace knew this was a tipping point. For 10 years, Felicity had been the school punching bag, braving assault, insults and near daily beatings with little more than a few tears. Now, having finally fought back, she was starting to crack.

“Feli, listen to me; you are none of those things. You hear? You were being attacked and you defended yourself. You had every right!” Grace gently chucked her sister’s chin up so their eyes met. “You may be a predator, but that doesn’t make you bad.”

“But my claws!” Felicity cried, trying to pull away. “That’s what they were bugging me about in the first place! They were saying that I was bound to kill someone with them in the end and I went and  proved them right!”

“Woah woah, hold on now. I don’t recall you saying nothin’ about killing. You said you just scratched her. Feli, You know elephant hide is tough. No bitty little claws like yours are gonna do serious damage. Come on, come sit down. Momma made corn cakes for you this morning.” Grace led her to the kitchen table, watching as the teen flopped her muzzle into her paws. After a while Felicity seemed to calm down. She stared at one paw, flexing and relaxing it to show her claws and hide them.

“How’s cosmotology school?” she asked at last. Grace shrugged.

“Not bad. We’re working on various fur types and we start Manicure practice next week.”

“Manicures...That’s like...Claws and stuff?”

“Yeah. Painting, clipping, dulling-....No!” Grace glared at Felicity when she saw those pointy ears perk up at the last word. “Don’t even think about it! That’s only for criminals!”

“But Gracie, If my claws are dulled, they won’t be scared of me anymore!”

“That’s tripe and you know it! Besides, Momma would never let you, and you need a parent’s permission.”

“At a salon yeah. But if you did it....”

“Absolutely NOT! I’m not going to mutilate my baby sister!”

“Grace PLEASE!” Felicity jumped out of her chair and dashed around the table, clutching Grace’s sleeve. “Please, I just want to be able to show them I’m not a danger.”

“Feli, this ain’t like just getting a trim. Look!” Grace pulled her textbook forward and flipped to the chapter on dulling talons and claws. “See that? They cut all the way to the quick! Mammals bleed during this kinda stuff. They have you burn you to cauterize the wounds. It hurts like crazy, it’s a punishment! Do you really want to go through all that just to make it one more year of high school?”

“And what about college Gracie?” Felicity pushed the textbook away. “What about getting work? No one is going to let me into school or a job if they think I’m dangerous. This will show them I’m not!”

Grace opened her mouth to retort, but swiftly shut it again. She knew Felicity was right, at least on some small level. Predators didn’t usually go to college. Most of them were considered too dim or vicious to handle the high stress atmosphere of Higher education. The few that did make it either took night classes or were selected by scholarship. The Job market was even worse. If you were a bigger predator, like a bear or a wolf or some breed of big cat, you could most likely get a job with the ZPD or as a bouncer or something. But for a little fox? One of the most despised predators in Zootopia?

Grace could see the hope in her little sister’s eyes and it dang near broke her heart. Felicity had dealt with so much in the 14 years Grace had known her. Being Orphaned, Dad leaving the family due to her adoption, the years of bullying...The Hippo sighed and ran a hoof down her face.

“If I agree to do this...” she began sternly. “It’s permanent. You know that, yeah? Your claws will never grow back the same way again. Ever.”

“I know Grace.”

“And we do it when I say so. I ain’t doing this without knowing exactly what I’m doing.”

“I got it.”

The operation occured during Summer vacation. Grace had studied hard to pass her Dulling Exam and had made it through with a perfect score, drawing praise from her instructors but making Grace sick to her stomach. She gathered all the tools she would need to cut, grind and burn the claws down to nubs, even found an old doctors chair with wrist, head and ankle restraints. A towel wrapped stick would keep Felicity from biting herself during the procedure, as well as muffling her screams.

It took over two agonizing hours for Felicity’s claws to be dulled. All eight points were gone and both of them were sweaty, shivering and tired. Felicity could barely move her hands for the next few days. It hurt to much to try, but she refused to complain. Grace kept an eye on the wounds, swabbing them down with antiseptic, changing the bandages like clockwork. By the time school started again, the claws had healed and Felicity was able to walk into her final year with pride and happiness.

Gracie picked up her Grooming diploma with a frown and a sick heart. She made a promise to herself never to dull another set of claws again. No matter how much money she was offered.


End file.
